...and then he made pancakes.

(Title credit again goes to Andy, but in this case it's better not to ask.)

Luzern is lovely! We got in just in time for a late dinner of-- what else?--Swiss fondue, of both the cheese and chocolate varieties, and the walk from our hotel to the restaurants and back ensured a nice look at the city by night, including the historical covered bridge and water tower.

In the morning, we circled part of the amazing lakefront, popped into a church, and ended up at the geological part attached to the Löwendenkmal, a monument in commemoration of 700 Swiss mercenaries (apparently their neutrality only extends to unpaid wars?) killed in the Franco-Prussian War from 1870-1. Apparently Mark Twain described it as the saddest monument in existence, and I've got to tell you, despite the glacier pool and the lovely natural scenery, the sight of the stone lion curling up to die around a broken shield in a rock crevice is pretty sad. Fortunately, the rest of the park was fairly happy: we learned about how glaciers can make potholes, saw some polar bear skeletons, and climbed a wooden tower in the back to (as you may have guessed) admire the view.

We did some walked by a long city wall thereafter; at one point, we found a small pasture of very woolly cattle, which Andy described as "cow muppets." Took me a while to recover from the giggles inspired by that conversation.

After a quick lunch (the Swizz like to use pretzels as sandwich bread), we went to the Verkehrshaus, which roughly translates to mean a transportation museum. "Museum" kind of understates the scale of the place, though; we're talking a warehouse dedicated to trains, and another each to planes, boats, and cars and bikes. Andy was like a kid in a candy store! I took some time out to peek into the Hans Erni museum (art) that was inexplicably part of the complex, but the art wasn't that exciting and the place smelled kind of funny. Fortunately, there was an awesome Rube Goldberg device in the marine section of the place, as well as a big-front-wheeled bike to play on, so I was very satisfied with the visit as well.

We took some more pictures of Lac Luzern and had (for once) a very relaxing train-catching experience around 5pm. We were headed into the heart of the Swiss Alps, so Andy wanted to make sure we did at least part of the ride in the daylight. I was very much okay with that plan: every turn the train made brought another utterly breathtaking view. The mountains are spectacular. The water is all from glaciers, so it's unbelievably clear. And there are all of these small villages nestled in among the hills, which also guide some very steep train tracks. I didn't think you could still see places this pristine in the world!